Centiva Capital LP Invests $301,000 in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $69.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $80.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 90.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SWX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.